[International / GSM] Total newbie, ex iPhone user Q. re. 4.2 update

As title says, I've just moved to a Nexus i9250 after years with iPhones. Love the phone.

I don't know anything about Android, so wanted to ask re. updating from 4.1.2, which was on the phone when I bought it, to 4.2. Oddly (or maybe not) I was getting a message every time I powered on the phone or woke it from sleep, that there was an Update to install. I always declined, as I didn't have time to sit down and do the update right. Suddenly, though, the message doesn't appear any more, though now I would like to update! Ain't it always the way? Under system info it says the phone is up to date.

When I was getting the message I thought the update would be automatic, in iPhone style. Wrong? Do I need to root the phone (jailbreak?) and then do the update? Is it always a modded update, or are there "official" ones you can download and install without doing anything to firmware?

Updates don't usually happen automatically - you have to confirm you want it.

It seems you've found the option to check that your phone is up-to-date. The page before that should tell you what version of the O/S your phone is currently running.

The only reason I can think that the alert for 4.2 would stop coming up and also no longer be available when you check manually, is that it was released by your network (i.e. your phone is locked to a network), who then pulled the release because they'd found some issues with it. This is possible as I believe there were issues with 4.2 which were addressed in 4.2.1. There is now a 4.2.2 version being rolled out though it's currently only available for some (unlocked) Nexus devices, mostly tablets.

The way Android releases work is Google make them available on their own devices (Nexus phones and tablets) and to manufacturers. If you bought your Nexus unlocked, this is when you get the updates.

For non-Nexus devices, the manufacturers then need to adapt their tweaked versions of the OS. If you had an unlocked, non-Nexus device, this is when you get your update, usually a few weeks to months after the initial Google release.

For network locked devices, the Android version is then released to networks who make their changes. This can take months and may never actually happen: it's up to the network to decide if the feel the update is required / worth distributing.

Still no luck. Always getting a Fail when trying to update via the system alert "update available".

Do I have to connect the Nexus to my computer to do the update? I assume it's not possible on a Mac, so does anyone know if I could update using Windows 7 in a virtual environment, e.g. Parallels?

Anyway, for now just sticking with 4.1.2, which is working well. I can add files, music, videos, etc. directly from my Mac using Android File Transfer, which works fine. Love the phone, just don't get the update problem, as I thought the Nexus was pretty much a vanilla system.

I would say stick to 4.1 ... if anything I want to go back to 4.0.2. These updates only seem to make my phone worse, they mess with things, and they change apps from a way I liked to a way I hate. I just installed 4.2.1 on my phone from 4.1.2 and it lags like crazy.